Homily: Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul

Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul (Acts 9:1-22) “The Second Founder”

In religious movements there is usually a founder and then there is a second founder. The founder has the idea and starts the movement. The second founder is the one who gives the religious movement its structure.

We could think of the founding of the Franciscans as an example. St. Francis was the one who started the Franciscans, but he did not write a lot of documents to guide the order. He also did not provide a lot of written Theology. It was up to St. Bonaventure to provide and others to provide that information.

In Christianity Jesus was the founder of “The Way” but he never wrote any type of written Theology. His words were passed on through an oral tradition. St. Paul was the one who created structures for Christianity. He organized church communities that passed on the faith. Others did this as well, but St. Paul was the person we remember for this.

St. Paul was also the one who wrote down Theological teaching. He was the most prolific New Testament writer. Without Paul we know much of what Jesus taught would have been lost. Paul also systematized the teaching of Jesus.

St. Paul’s conversion was one of the most important moments in Church history because he was the second founder of Christianity. The story of his conversion is also a validation of the idea that Christianity was divinely inspired. Paul, the enemy of the church, became its chief teacher. The miraculous nature of this conversion should never be forgotten.

We do not have Feast Days to mark the conversions of too many Christians. The fact that we mark Paul’s conversion to Christianity in this way speaks of the church’s respect for the ministry of St. Paul.

Reflection Questions:

1.    When did my conversion to Christianity take place? When did I make my faith my own?

2.    St. Paul’s conversion happened in an instant? Is my conversion more complicated? Haver there been several moments of conversion for me?

Dear Parishioners,

          The Catholic Church in the United States is having a Eucharistic revival. Bishop Tylka has asked us to support this effort at the parish level. As a part of this effort, we are bringing in an outside speaker on March 14th and 15th.

          The speaker is a college friend of mine who is the priest of the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan. His name is Fr. Pete Gaspeny. Fr. Pete will be giving a teaching on the Eucharist one night and he will be doing a demonstration Mass on the 15th. This will be a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the Eucharist. Please mark your calendar so you can be present.

          May Our Lady pray for our troubled world today.

          Fr. Mark